Rene Auberjonois
René Murat Auberjonois is the actor best known to Star Trek fans for portraying Constable Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He has also directed many episodes of the series. Rene also appeared as Col. West in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, although his scenes were initially cut for the film's theatrical release. He also made guest appearances as Ezral in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Oasis". Career Broadway Rene Auberjonois has been performing on the Broadway stage since the late 1960s, beginning with a revival of William Shakespeare's King Lear that ran from November 1968 through February 1969 with a total of 72 performances. During those same exact months, Auberjonois performed in another Broadway play called A Cry of Players, co-starring future DS9 guest star Frank Langella. In 1972, Auberjonois co-starred with Stephen McHattie in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In 1970, Auberjonois won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in for his portrayal of Sebastian Baye in Coco, which ran from 18 December 1969 through 3 October 1970. Auberjonois received a second Tony Award nomination in 1974 for his role in The Good Doctor (opposite Christopher Plummer), and yet a third nomination in 1985 for playing The Duke in Big River. He also won a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for Big River. Auberjonois performed in Big River from its premiere on 25 April 1985 until 2 September of that year, when his role as The Duke was recast. By 8 October, future Star Trek: The Next Generation star Brent Spiner had taken over the role which Auberjonois had originated; in January 1986, the role of The Duke went to TNG guest actor Ken Jenkins. Another TNG guest actor, Bob Gunton, played the role of The King in Big River during both Auberjonois' and Spiner's tenures. Auberjonois received yet another Tony Award nomination, as well as a Drama Desk nomination, for his dual role in the musical comedy City of Angels, which ran from 1989 through 1992. Auberjonois most recently starred on Broadway in Dance of the Vampires from December 2002 through January 2003 and Sly Fox in 2004. Benson Rene first gained fame on television for his Emmy-nominated role as the snooty Clayton Endicott III on the series Benson. Co-starring on this series was actor Ethan Phillips (Neelix of Star Trek: Voyager). Altman, Schuck and Kellerman He has also become a highly-recognizable face in motion pictures. Early in his film career, Auberjonois, along with his Star Trek VI co-star John Schuck and one-time TOS actress Sally Kellerman, was a member of an informal acting troupe spearheaded by director Robert Altman. One of Rene's earliest film roles was Father John Patrick Francis "Dago Red" Mulcahy in Altman's original 1970 classic M*A*S*H. That same year, Auberjonois appeared in Altman's film Brewster McCloud. Schuck and Kellerman also co-starred in both of these films; Fred Williamson appeared in the former, while William Windom (Commodore Matt Decker in TOS: "The Doomsday Machine") had a role in the latter. Auberjonois and Schuck would go on to co-star together in Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller in 1971, while Auberjonois himself would star in Altman's the following year. Auberjonois and Kellerman would go on to co-star together in 1976's The Big Bus, along with Vic Tayback. This film, however, was not directed by Robert Altman. Auberjonois and John Schuck also co-starred together in the 1971 made-for-TV movie . Other notable works Auberjonois also had a role in the 1975 disaster movie The Hindenburg. This film was directed by Robert Wise, who would go on to direct Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (Rex Holman also appeared in this film.) His many other feature film credits include (1972, with Whit Bissell), King Kong (1976, with Joe Piscopo), (1978, with Brad Dourif), Walker (1987, with Keith Szarabajka and Biff Yeager), Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988, with David Graf and Matt McCoy), (1988, with David Warner), (1993), Batman Forever (1995), and Inspector Gadget (1999, with Andy Dick). He recently played Reverend Oliver in the 2000 American Revolution epic The Patriot. Leon Rippy also had a role in this film. Auberjonois appeared in ABC's made-for-TV movie , which aired in 2000. Also featured in this movie were Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Brent Spiner and Star Trek: Voyager actress Scarlett Pomers. In 2004, Rene had a role in the film Eulogy, which starred TNG guest actress Famke Janssen. Sherman Howard also had a role in this film. In 2001, he guest-starred in two episodes of Frasier, playing Kelsey Grammer's character's mentor from Harvard, Dr. William Tewksbury. He appeared in the episodes "Frasier's Edge" and "The Wizard and Roz." (See also: Current projects) Voice-over work :See also: Star Trek parodies. Rene has also become well versed as a voice actor, with perhaps his most famous voice-over work being Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989), in which he voiced the French chef, Louis. DS9 guest actors Kenneth Mars and Hamilton Camp also lent their voices to this film. Auberjonois also voiced for the animated films Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992, with Michael Bell) and Cats Don't Dance (1997). Star Trek: Enterprise star Scott Bakula and Star Trek: Voyager guest star John Rhys-Davies also supplied voices in the latter film. Auberjonois has also lent his voice to such animated TV shows as The Snorks, DuckTales, The Pirates of Dark Water, Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League. He reprised his role of Odo in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story!, a direct-to-DVD movie based on the hit animated FOX series Family Guy (created by Seth MacFarlane). Rene supplied the voice of Odo in a scene which parodied Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also had an uncredited voice-over role in the live-action Disney movie The Princess Diaries. In 2005, he voiced the character known as Mr. Sneaps in Geppetto's Secret. Armin Shimerman, DS9's Quark, also voices a character in that production. In video games, he provided a voice role in the video game series Legacy of Kain as the ancient vampire Janos Audron. This video game series also contained voice roles from Trek alumni Michael Bell, Simon Templeman, and Tony Jay. Current projects Rene currently stars alongside TOS actor William Shatner in the hit ABC series Boston Legal, which is now in its third season. In this series, Auberjonois plays Paul Lewiston, the managing partner of law firm Crane, Poole & Schmidt. He was initially credited as a guest star when the series began in October 2004, and officially became a regular halfway through the first season. Auberjonois' friend and fellow DS9 star Armin Shimerman has a recurring role on the series as of October 2006. Shimerman plays a judge who is an acquaintance of Auberjonois' character – and who is suspected of being involved in the murder of Shimerman's wife. Although the two did not act together during the first three episodes of the third season (when Shimerman began appearing), they finally shared a scene together in the fourth episode, entitled "Desperately Seeking Shirley". Voyager actor and Auberjonois' Benson co-star Ethan Phillips also had a recurring role on Boston Legal, playing the father of the boy accused of killing Shimerman's wife. Appearances as Odo *''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' **All episodes, except: *** "Paradise" *** "By Inferno's Light" *** "Change of Heart" *** "Far Beyond the Stars" (only as Douglas Pabst) *** "Strange Bedfellows" (only as a Pah-wraith posing as Odo) Additional Appearances Additional Voice Credits * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger as Odo * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen as Odo Directoral Credits * DS9: ** "Prophet Motive" ** "Family Business" ** "Hippocratic Oath" ** "The Quickening" ** "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." ** "Ferengi Love Songs" ** "Waltz" ** "Strange Bedfellows" Trivia *Actor Armin Shimmerman, who played Quark on DS9, was and remains a close friend of Rene. They spent many hours together in make-up chairs while starring in DS9. *Rene initially disliked the season three premiere (The Search) in which he met his people, the Founders, for the first time. He felt part of Odo's mystery and vitality as a character was that he did not know where he came from. However, Rene soon came to like the development because new twists were added as more was learned about Odo. For instance, whether Odo's loyalties would reside with the Founders and leaders of the Dominion, or with the Federation added complexity to his character (Special Featurs - DS9 DVD) *His mother was Princess Laure Murat, who was descended from Joachim Murat, one of Napoleon Bonaparte's generals, and husband of Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister. *Rene lent his voice to an animated series called Wildfire, which revolved around a horse. His DS9 co-star, Nana Visitor, currently stars in a TV series called Wildfire – which is also about a horse. *Auberjonois received his second Emmy nomination for a guest starring role in the series The Practice. Boston Legal, in which Auberjonois now stars, is an off-shoot of that program, although he does not play the same character. *Auberjonois was not the first actor to parody his own Star Trek role. The entire cast of the original series, with the exception of James Doohan and DeForest Kelley, voiced themselves in a popular episode of FOX TV's Futurama; Voyager actress Jeri Ryan voiced an alarm clock version of Seven of Nine in an episode of Dilbert; and TNG actors Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn parodied Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Counselor Troi and Lieutenant Worf in two episodes of Family Guy. *Auberjonois attended the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner in August 2006, where his Boston Legal co-star and fellow Trek actor was subjected to the whims of stand-up comics. Also in the audience were Jeri Ryan of Voyager fame (who guest-starred on Boston Legal) and Brent Spiner from TNG. Shatner's TOS cohorts Nichelle Nichols and George Takei participated in the roast, as did Voyager guest star Andy Dick, while Clint Howard and Sarah Silverman had recorded messages to Bill. The event was hosted by Jason Alexander. External Links *Rene's Page - official fan site * * Auberjonois, Rene Auberjonois, Rene Auberjonois, Rene Auberjonois, Rene Auberjonois, Rene cs:Rene Auberjonois de:René Auberjonois es:Rene Auberjonois pl:Rene Auberjonois